Growing Army of Trained Crackers!!!
Hacker gurus recruit unsuspecting youth. Sophisticated online "mentors" are helping unsuspecting young people cause serious damage to personal computers. Hacking gurus are taking advantage of curious young people, swaying them to try their hand at hacking and virus writing. Mentors are distributing virus-writing and hacking software on more than 30,000 Web sites. The most dangerous aspect is the potential for a mentor to use inexperienced Internet users to accomplish political or terrorist-minded goals; however, there is little evidence that shows young hackers are being utilized by terrorists or organized crime. Online software or tool-kits allow people to write malicious code almost as easily as creating a Microsoft Word document. Novice hackers are using the software to write new variants of viruses, such as Klez or Code Red, or hack into a computer network without realizing how much damage their actions may cause. Hacking and virus writing has been made popular in books and films such as The Matrix, Hackers and Swordfish. Many teens, looking to mimic what they see in popular culture, join underground hacking groups and quickly realize a mentor's toolkits are the easiest way to break into the world of hacking. Unsophisticated or novice hackers often lack a sense of responsibility, are unaware of the capabilities of the hacker tools they use, do not appreciate the implications of hacking, or are unconcerned about the consequences of their actions.
